The poor are an easy target for the Mammonists among those in power. America will never be great, let alone “again” until we have addressed the legitimate needs of the impoverished and the working poor within our own borders. This is a huge affront to the Lord, on the part of those in this administration who claim to serve Him.

Hypocrites beware! True Believers awake!

We who truly believe and take up our crosses daily must be on the front-lines against iniquity on the extreme Right as well as irresponsibility on the extreme Left. While I do advocate praying for our leaders (NOT their agendas), I must add in conscience the following…

To this Administration God says “As you have done unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done so unto Me”. We must pray and leap to the defense of the defenseless. THAT is God’s heart.

Another way America has been seen as great by the freedom-loving nations of the world is as a thought leader in the responsible care of the planet, science-phobic foolishness aside. What are we thinking to allow this bullet train of backwardness? Time to stand and speak up in love of God and the poor and resist this shameless power grab, albeit peaceably.

With Love in Jesus’ Name,

John Henry Raskin

The Lord has restored and reactivated a long dormant gift of writing poetry. His Spirit has led me to post them here as “what He is doing”.  These are memories and snapshots of real people who I have met and touched/been touched by in my years of serving the poor in the San Fernando Valley.  Pray for those who struggle with faith.  Your prayers will bear fruit in His perfect time.  Be encouraged!

From the Last Planet

Dreaming now of desert ice

Beneath the dark, bequeathed cold

No sun shines here

Just age and beer

Fearful of the downs that come up suddenly.

I’d made a life that used and spent

Each waking hour afraid to lose the fragile tent

Not built with tools but snapped up hard

At each oasis dried and cracked.

To live is now to mow the yard

and see and feel the wavy lines

of heat like weeds that just grow back

the pushing, pulling blades attack

I ever wish I’d learned the knack of using time.

Now I lash the lack of love

and luck to every mast that breaks

and cracks from wind the ice drives down

I shudder here beneath the crown

Of thorns that living has become.

My dreams are fleeting as is each hour

But I have heard of Love Divine

That suffered here for souls like mine

I will pray to live.  I will pray to live for Him!

John Henry Raskin   March 7, 2018

Here is a poem that I wrote today.  It’s real.  That’s all I can say.  Please pray for those in bondage.

Greg and Maggie

He showed up with a glittering fist

Knuckles red and glass embedding bone

He laughed at first like always, the “I’m an idiot” grin

Then the tears break through the crack-scarred surface of his

Midwest Howdy-Doody face alive on meth.

Before I could get the question out he confessed, like I was Jesus

“I stole this…” and showed me a watch he wanted to sell

knowing I wouldn’t be buying, just rolling out his shame,

knowing I know he knows better but wouldn’t budge today

from the years of in and out of jail and rehab that were his only solid food.

Maggie rolls into the alley fresh from some guy she met

Swarthy and short with a “so what” stare and smeared eye shadow

I ask about her kids and she looks down, mumbles, then stares back, defiant,

Looks at Greg, the watch, then Greg again and says, “let’s go”.

They go…

I’ve known them 14 years and it’s never changed

except for that one time that Greg didn’t cry when he saw me.

That time he pulled his knife on me when I spoke the Lord’s Name.

That time he hated me.

…and THEN he cried and told me he loved me and asked me for a prayer.

John Henry Raskin

March 7, 2018

“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”—John 15:8

I have had many conversations with Christian friends over the years wherein they let me know that they are concerned about predestination and/or whether it is possible for a Christian to “lose” their salvation.  Invariably, in the middle of the conversation the Holy Spirit reminds me to suggest that those two things are not the most important questions to ask of Him.  While the former question comes under the “unsearchable mysteries of God” category, the latter is a “red herring”, or distraction of the enemy, to lead the saint away from the real question which is… now that I have received such a great salvation, and I have been liberated from the power of sin and the fear of death, how do I walk in a way most pleasing to you O Lord and use the time I have remaining to bring You Glory?

Scripture tells us “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9  Since only God knows the heart of a man, it is only God who can discern, let alone judge another man’s salvation.  That said, if you tell me that you love Jesus and believe that He sacrificed Himself on the Cross for your sins, believe Him to be the Christ (Messiah) and have asked Him to be Lord of your life, then I have no other desire, let alone option, but to believe you.  Now it is simply a matter of allowing Jesus, through the Holy Spirit to lead you, as your Shepherd, into “paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake”.  This is a simple matter of obedience to the Spirit’s leading because “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared BEFOREHAND that we should walk in them” – Ephesians 2:10

Now… if you still say to me, “yes, but can I lose my salvation?”, then what I am hearing is that you are more concerned with what happens after you die than in living the rest of your life for God’s Glory.  So… I would have to ask you “are you trying to find out what you can get away with and still “enter the Kingdom of Heaven”?  Again, I would have to say, “God is the only judge”.  What I CAN tell you is that God is not glorified by your riding the line in that way.  We who strive to trust and obey the Spirit know that good works are not only our “reasonable service” -Romans 12:1, but He Himself is our portion, our “exceedingly great reward” – Genesis 15:1, and His Glory is the only true source of our joy, which is our strength.

While we need not, and indeed cannot, earn our salvation (it is by Grace alone that we are saved) – Ephesians. 2:5, we must be vigilant, in our walk, to take up our cross daily and truly follow Him.  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” – Matt.7:21.  These words of Jesus, should put to rest the question of whether works are important to the health of a Christian’s walk with the Lord, fears of losing salvation entirely to the side.

If you are a Believer in Jesus Christ then you:

1. Know that you are a sinner saved by Grace, through faith and that you cannot earn your way into Heaven.
2. Love Him and are grateful for what He did for you on the Cross by dying for your sins.
3. Love those who also love Jesus and are willing to go out of your way to bless them with the things God gave you (talents, time and resources).
4. Love those who God puts in your life, even if they don’t identify themselves as Believers, and even if they actively dislike, hate or even seek to harm you.
5. Use every opportunity to know God better, be more sensitive to His spirit’s leading and desire to be ever more obedient to and trusting of Him.

While this list opens with the certainty that our works cannot save us, it finishes with the conviction that we must DO something with this great salvation, so that we are able to honor God.  In other words, our joy at receiving the blessing of John 3:16 must find completion in our response to fulfill our side of the new covenant found in 1John 3:16

It is through diligent prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving, that we must make known to God our request to redeem the time we have been graciously given and gain a heart of His wisdom by numbering our days rightly.

In His Love, with joy and thanksgiving for all the saints,

John Henry Raskin

The Roadhouse Rabbi

I have found that many believers, both those that are new in Christ and some who have walked with Him for some time, are confused about the nature of the soul and often think and speak of it as interchangeable with their spirit.  Hopefully the following will help clear up this crucial misunderstanding.

Genesis 2:7

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (KJV)

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

There are three aspects of man as God created him.  These are body, soul, and spirit.

Body:  soma (Greek): the lowest part of man, the physical man, the fleshly or natural man.

Soul:  nephesh (Hebrew), psykhe (Greek): inner nature or man, the person or one’s self.  Includes the mental, emotional, sensual, and creative.  Soul also refers to the life one has as a person.  The soul or life is in the blood.  The soul of a person is also capable of exercising free will.

Spirit:  ruahh (Hebrew), pneuma (Greek): wind, force or breath.  Also breath: neshamah’ (Hebrew).

The spirit is the life force in all living creatures or souls.  This would include both animals and humans.  At death, the spirit leaves the body and goes back to the true God who gave it.  Upon that moment, all conscious thoughts, purposes, and plans cease and the body goes back to dust.  Only God can restore or give back one’s spirit.

When the Lord released the great flood, which destroyed all life on earth except Noah, his family, and those animals that entered the ark, He said…

Genesis 6:17:  

“For behold, I, even I, will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy and make putrid all flesh under the heavens in which are the breath and spirit of life; everything that is on the land shall die.”

1 Corinthians 15:45: 

So also, it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul; The last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit.”

There are hundreds of scriptures that support the inter-relational nature of soul and spirit.  In this blog, however, I want to make a point about the importance of KNOWING the difference between soul and spirit, how they interact, and most importantly, being sure that our spirit is aligned with the Holy Spirit and our soul (our mind, our emotions and our will), is placed in it’s proper position, under the AUTHORITY of the Holy Spirit’s leading.  This can only be done by prayer and most of all, through supplication, or submission to the Will of God.

Although I generally don’t include outside sources, other than scripture, in this blog, I wanted to include the best description of the nature and the interaction between body, soul and spirit that I have read.  This has impacted me greatly in my walk and the ministry the Lord has given me and so I felt the need to share it with my readers.  It explains eloquently, the reason to rightly divide soul and spirit.

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SPIRIT, THE SOUL, AND THE BODY

Man is composed of two independent kinds of material: spirit and body. When the spirit entered the body of dust, the soul was produced. It is impossible for the spirit to control the body directly. Hence, it requires a medium. This medium is the soul, which was produced when the spirit touched the body.

The spirit mingled with the body and brought forth the soul. As such, man became a living soul. Hence, the soul is the result of the union between the spirit and the body; it is the personality of a man.

The body is the outer shell of the soul, and the soul is the outer shell of the spirit. Before man fell, it was the spirit that controlled his entire being. When the spirit wants to do something, it communicates this to the soul, and the soul motivates the body to obey the command of the spirit. This is the meaning of the soul as the medium. Luke 1:46-47 says, “My soul magnifies [present tense] the Lord, and my spirit has exulted [perfect tense] in God my Savior.” The spirit must first exult, before the soul can magnify the Lord. The spirit first communicates the exultation to the soul, then the soul communicates to the body.

The body is the “world-consciousness,” the soul is the “self-consciousness,” and the spirit is the “God-consciousness.” There are five organs in the body, which afford man the five senses. This physical body enables man to communicate with the physical world. This is why it is called the “world- consciousness.” The soul includes that part known as man’s intellect, which helps to make man’s existence possible. The part of love generates affections toward other human beings or objects. The part that can be aroused is the part that originates from the consciousness. All these are parts of the man himself; they form the personality of man. Hence, they are called the “self-consciousness.” The spirit is the part with which man communicates with God. With this part, man worships God, serves Him, and understands his relationship with God. Hence, it is called the “God-consciousness.”

The spirit has knowledge, but this knowledge is different from the knowledge of the mind. Because the spirit is different from the mind, only a spiritual man can know himself. First Corinthians 2:11 says, “For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him?” Although man knows things through the mind, unless his mind is RIGHTLY DIVIDING SOUL AND SPIRIT, it is actually not trustworthy and cannot know “the things of man.” The mind may have knowledge, but only by man’s spirit can he know the things of man and know himself. Hence, God’s Word states the fact: “For who knows the things of man, except the spirit.” This spirit is the part with which man fellowships with God. “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding” (Job 32:8). “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly” (Prov. 20:27). The spirit of man is the part with which man fellowships with God.

The soul can be stimulated, and it can be disquieted (Psa. 42:5). It can feel sorrowful (Matt. 26:38). In short, the soul is everything that the personality entails. Hence, we can say that the soul is the personality. Many portions in the Bible do not call man a man, but a soul. For example, when the house of Jacob went down to Egypt, there were seventy people (Gen. 46:27). But the Bible says, “All the souls…were threescore and six” (Gen. 46:26).

The body is like a servant; it is under man’s control.

The soul is the meeting point; here the spirit and the body join. Man communicates with the spiritual realm through the spirit. He communicates with the world of senses through the body. The soul is in between. On the one hand, it communicates with the spiritual realm through the spirit, and on the other hand, it communicates with the physical world through the body.

The soul is in between the spirit and the body; it binds the spirit and the body together as one. The spirit rules over the body through the soul and subjects it under God’s power. The body can induce the spirit to love the world through the soul.

In conclusion, the soul is the source of the personality; man’s judgment, intellect, and love all are of the soul. The spirit is the part with which man communicates with the spiritual realm. The body is the part with which man communicates with the physical realm. The soul is in the middle of these two parts. It exercises its judgment to determine if the spiritual realm is to rule or if the physical realm is to rule. Sometimes the soul rules through its intellect and stimulations; this becomes the rule of the psychological world. Unless the soul yields its rule to the spirit, the spirit cannot rule. Hence, the soul has to authorize the spirit to rule before the latter can rule over the soul and the body. The reason for this is that the soul is the origin of the personality.

(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 1) Vol. 01: The Christian Life and Warfare, Chapter 5, by Watchman Nee)

“Unless the soul yields its rule to the spirit, the spirit cannot rule.”  This to me has been a true revelation and I have applied it to my life as completely as I have been, and continue to be able, to do.

As the whole man consists of body, soul and spirit, and we have now seen that the soul consists of a person’s mind, emotions and will, it stands to reason that, in order for us to achieve this, we must use our WILL to truly yield the soul to the authority of the spirit and the spirit under the authority of His Holy Spirit!

As David (a man after God’s own heart) said:

Psalm 103:1

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

The apostle Paul reminds us in his first letter to the church at Corinth, that we are to: “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”.

Finally, Jesus Himself tells us:

Genesis 3: 22-24 – Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.  So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

In pulpits across the planet, Christians are taught that sin and death entered the world when and because of Eve and Adam’s disobedience to God in eating an “apple” which He forbade them to eat.  The implication is that we should always obey God and usually through the adherence to, and application of the 10 Commandments as they were given to Moses much later in the Bible.

Certainly, the timing is right, and disobedience to the Lord God is the paramount reason that sin and death abound in the world today, but the nuances of the Lord’s Word is often lost to the flock in this simple teaching.  Perhaps this is the reason why so many today are quick to hurl judgment at others while being unwilling to examine themselves by the words of the One True God we can know in Christ Jesus (Jesus Messiah).

We were created to be eternal beings, but only once we allow a relationship with God that can only be had and solidified in a desire for, understanding of, and receiving into relationship with God the Father through the death and resurrection of the Son through the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

You see, by actually partaking of the fruit of the tree of the KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, our progenitors became people WITHOUT EXCUSE for making bad choices and they passed this legacy down to us.  This is why we could not be given the additional gift of eternal life from the other special tree in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life, at least not in an unsaved condition.

Let’s ponder why it is that God did not prohibit Adam from eating of that tree, but specified only the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil… Could it be that God, the loving Father, knew that it is in a child’s (childlike Adam’s) nature to disobey and so He not only prohibited the eating of that fruit but allowed the enemy, in the form of a serpent, to lie to and convince Eve to seduce Adam into the disobedience that would allow sin and death to come into the Garden?

Before you shout “heresy!” consider this…  Jesus’ death on the Cross was never God’s Plan B but the foundational purpose of the entire Creation!  This leads me to believe that in order for mankind to begin the journey that would culminate in God’s True Israel (those Jews and Gentiles that give their lives to Christ) becoming the family of God in Heaven, they HAD to have a knowledge of good and evil so that they could make REAL choices.  This is also why we cannot blame God for the awful condition of the world (sin, disease, crime, hatred, bigotry, etc.) but we MUST accept responsibility ourselves.

There is certainly now and has been throughout history REAL EVIL in the world.   There are those today and throughout the story of mankind that have reveled in causing anguish, death and destruction upon their fellow men and women.  There are many of these who perpetrated atrocities in the VERY NAME OF GOD and even in the NAME OF JESUS!

So… how do we differentiate the true Good from the real evil?  Simply by adhering to the Word of God.  How do we know what the Word of God says, let alone what it MEANS?  By having a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus, the Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit which begins in the DESIRE of a person to KNOW God and not merely to have power over other persons (which is all empty religion accomplishes).  Although it is surely ONLY God’s Grace and Mercy that sent the Messiah/son to die for all mankind, it is the true desire of individual people to have a relationship with God that opens the door of the heart at which Jesus knocks.

Jesus certainly knew the difference between the lost and the wicked.  Note that throughout the Gospels, the lost are the broken sinners (the drunks, the fornicators, the homosexuals, the demon-possessed, the prostitutes, even the tax collectors) and the truly wicked (the religious Pharisees).  He dined with the former in fellowship and forgave them, taught them and loved them, while the latter he physically scourged out of the Temple and reviled them calling them a “brood of vipers”.

It is little wonder why the wicked religious and political leaders of today (not all certainly but FAR too many), have little regard for the poor (Jesus template for how to love Him was how you love THEM) and great regard for personal wealth and privilege (Jesus said you cannot serve God and Mammon/money).  A true shepherd after the Chief Shepherd’s heart will always love, tend and feed the flock while the false shepherds will uncaringly FLEECE them for profit.

The wicked will be cast into outer darkness and eternal torment on the Day of Judgment is what the Bible tells us.  So much for the wicked.

However, many people will say “but wait! I’m not a wicked person.  I’m a good person.  I just don’t want to have anything to do with religion. (or in the case of Christians “I don’t really need to go to Church, read the Bible, defend the poor, blah, blah, blah…) I don’t want to say I’m a sinner.  I don’t sin.  I don’t even think that there is such a thing as sin so how can you judge me?”   Really?  Jesus said that there is NO ONE good but the Father in Heaven.  Proverbs 3:7 says “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil”.  This implies that by believing your own desire to be right rather than seeking God’s perspective, you have done evil.

The Apostle James says “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin”.  This great truth eliminates all the other excuses that people have for not taking care of the poor, their neighbors and even their own family ESPECIALLY if they call themselves Christians.

Jesus, the Son of Man and Son of God, accepted His purpose to be vilified, scourged and hung to die on the Cross to be a propitiation, a SUBSTITUTE for each one of us wretched sinners and endured the shame for the JOY that was set before Him!  What was that JOY?  The sure knowledge that those that would desire a relationship with God could and would come to Him and lay their burdens/sins at the Cross in humility and rise up to an earthly life of Godly power through prayer and supplication, and on THROUGH death unto ETERNAL LIFE.  THAT is why God allowed sin and death to enter the world though the disobedience of the first Adam… So that despite the BAD choices many who knew the difference between good and evil would make, there would come out of the world the true FAMILY OF GOD who would make the GOOD choice to follow Jesus and forever LIVE!

In the Might of His Spirit, in His Love, with blessing,

John Henry Raskin

Roadhouse Rabbi

With the new “christian” administration’s War on Compassion (I’m reading between the lines here but you have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see it), I feel compelled to take the Trumpet that God gave me and blow it very loudly to wake up the sleeping Body of Christ.

Why are you more concerned about your “safety” and your comfortable lifestyle than you are about God’s Word?  Are we not called to be defenders of the weak?  God does not need us to defend Him in the schools, or the Government buildings by assuring that the word “God” is used regularly there.  Our children will know God when they see us taking up our crosses daily and walking with the integrity we have in Christ Jesus!

The Lord gave us clear instructions as to how we are to conduct ourselves.  America has been blessed by God not for it’s merit but by Grace alone.    Should we not also display Grace as we have been given it?  It is time for America to bless God in the way that He has requested.  God has placed us as a lampstand to be a light of freedom in the darkness of ignorance and evil that has always existed worldwide. We honor God not by paying lip-service to Him or “defending” the unborn at the expense of the mother (never mentioned in the Bible), but by honoring and giving wholeheartedly to the poor and the disenfranchised among us and loving our neighbors as ourselves.  If we as believers can also get out there and help bring down the barriers to adoption of unwanted children, perhaps these mothers will not be so quick to abandon their unborn children.

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

I will admit that I am always perplexed and not a little disturbed when people who have heard me preach and even those who have come to know me, will say to me “now John, I know you are very religious…” This is the preamble, undoubtedly, to some observation about the nature of religion and/or their perception of religious people.  Depending upon the specific nature of their question, my response varies, but will always contain some version of my strongly held belief that as a committed follower of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, it does not glorify my King for me to be religious in the usual, worldly sense.  After all, the Pharisees who facilitated Jesus’ death on the Cross were, arguably, the most religious people of their time, and Jesus was extremely vocal about His distaste for their narrow, self-serving adherence to legalism which was more about shutting people out, than inviting people in, to the Kingdom of Heaven.

I will usually then go on to point out that the only time religion is mentioned favorably in the Bible is by James, the (half) brother of Jesus, who said:

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” – James 1:27

Now religion as the Pharisees practiced it, and as many “religious” people do today, is more about tradition and ritual than it is about honoring God.  In fact, most who practice religion in this way do so because their parents practiced in this way and their grandparents before them and so on.  This in fact, is why it makes sense that there are baby baptisms, and other rituals claiming for the Kingdom a child too young to make their own decision about having a relationship with God.  What God desires from His people, I will always tell my friends, is a true relationship with those who want to have one with Him.

“You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:13

‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.” – Matthew 15:8

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”. – James 4:8

What God truly desires from us, in fact, is faith.  His Word says as much.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” – Hebrews 11:6

So here is my premise, and one that I share freely when trying to draw for my friends the distinction between their perception of my religion and my real relationship with God.  A true man or woman of God is faithful as opposed to religious.   We walk with God, following as He leads, hearing from His Spirit and worshiping Him in our spirit in obedience in accordance to His truth.

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:24

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1

This takes exactly the faith that I am talking about.  That faith which sees those things that God reveals in the Spirit although they don’t (yet) actually EXIST.  This is the nature of miracles.  It is the faith of the believer, not just to believe what the Spirit shows him, but to WALK OUT that belief and then and only then, does the CO-OPERATION between God and the believing saint CAUSE those things to come into existence!

A leading reason many unbelievers refuse to believe in a God who loves them, and sacrificed His Son (Himself) for them, is because of their perception of religion as men using the threat of a vengeful God to control other men.  This is understandable given the way “religion” has been applied and practiced throughout history by power mongers who used religion for their own ends.  Yet throughout history real men and women of faith have worked behind the scenes, pulling innocents out of the fire, feeding, clothing and sheltering the poor and hungry, and preaching the truth of the Gospel to the captives in darkness, to set them free.

There is another reason that causes people to shun a relationship with God, and also, frankly, often causes those who want to believe, from fully grasping that relationship with God which would spur them to action.  The Bible is full of promises of protection from enemies, freedom from disease, hunger and all kinds of trouble, and yet we/they find themselves going through trials constantly.  This then causes a dichotomy that creates a dissonance between their “reality” and the reality of God’s promises.  They just can’t seem to reconcile it.  Here is where faith comes in.

Faith IS the bridge between God’s promises and man’s reality.  Faith IS the bridge between sinful earth and Holy Heaven.  Faith (and specifically faith in Jesus Christ the Son of Man and the Son of God) IS the bridge between sinful man and a Righteous God.  God Himself built that bridge when He sent Jesus to die at our hands FOR our sins.  God Himself made the ultimate (and final) sacrifice for us, who did not deserve it, that we may have a way back to Him.  Jesus, without sin, did what only He could do to save us, sinners beyond self-redemption.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

We are all prodigal children, sinners who have fallen into idolatry at the very least.  Our Heavenly Father, knowing that there was no way that we could come to Him in our fallen state, came to us in the person of the Son of Man, the Messiah.   Jesus came to us to be our sacrifice, the propitiation for sin, because He loved us so much.

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” – Luke 15:20

Nothing pleases a loving father more than when his son or daughter acknowledges and receives that love, and even more so, demonstrates that love by loving their siblings in a real and palpable way.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” – John 13:34

It is the acknowledgement of this great gift of love (Jesus’ sacrifice) and our gratitude and expression of love towards God that allows us to receive this great salvation (eternal life AND temporal joy, peace and strength while we live) and the outpouring of that love towards our fellow men and women, that glorifies God and reveals our true Kingdom nature.

“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for our brethren.” – 1John 3:16

So… when I said “yes” to my Lord Jesus Messiah did I become a “religious” man?  No.  I maintain that I become, for the first time, a man faithful to my true purpose.  I crossed the bridge that God had made in faith.  Now I am a Kingdom man pouring light and salt into a dark and tasteless world.  Thank You Father for Your Grace, Mercy and Love towards me.  The question isn’t how religious am I, but how much do I love God and love other people.  Who will cross that bridge of faith with me?  That is the real question.

In Joy and the Love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

John Henry Raskin

Roadhouse Rabbi

Luke 2: ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men

Matt. 1:22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

When I said “yes” to Jesus at age 43 and received Him as Lord of my life, one of the first things I remembered was Linus’ speech from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” telling Charlie Brown and all the little kids who ridiculed him the true story of the birth of Our Savior from the Gospel of Luke.  He ended by saying,  ”…and that, Charlie Brown, is what Christmas is all about”.  The year I first heard this was 1965 and I was a 13 year old Jewish boy who had recently gone through my “Bar-Mitzvah”.  I remember hearing the words of Luke in Linus’ little innocent voice and having a moment of hope that Messiah had come.  That hope was delivered 30 years later when I stopped resisting and said “yes” to my Lord through the orchestration and power of the Holy Spirit.  The Bible says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.  …and so it was for me.

We often hear people say at Christmas time that “Jesus is the reason for the season” and we who believe and follow Him know that this is true.  He is truly Immanuel, “God with us”.  He promised us, His disciples, that He would never leave us or forsake us.  Moreover, He extended His invitation to eternity and the Abundant Life of the power and joy of the Lord in this life and forever to EVERYONE, such as would receive Him as Lord of their lives.

Jesus is all that the Bible represents Him to be.  The eternal God, having taken on the form of a man, tempted as we are yet sinless before the Father, having come into human life as a helpless babe, to grow in stature before God and faithful men, to be reviled and hunted by religious power-mongers who refused to recognize Him but tested Him, tortured Him and finally killed Him and Who, in victory, finally and forever, was resurrected to be the Risen Lord who rules and reigns from the Throne of Grace.   His gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit is available to everyone, without exception.  All anyone has to do is believe and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and then walk that out in Love.

Here is what I desire to bring to the unbelieving world in this coming year… That in me they may get a view through the window of Heaven, that I would be a vessel of His Grace and Mercy to be poured out on all those that the Lord puts in my path, to be an ambassador of the true Kingdom, extending His Hand of Grace at the end of my own arm to the undeserving, as He did for me.

This is the message I will bring:

What we are all longing for, deep down inside, is not just Christmas, but Christ; not only merriment, but the Messiah; not our own goodwill, but God’s Will; not expensive presents, but His Presence in our lives.  Anyone or anything short of that will disappoint, but He will never disappoint.

For Him it is all about you.  For us, let it be all about Him by loving each other this Christmas and throughout the year.  That is what this season is all about Charlie Brown. It is about Immanuel, God is with us.

In the Power of His Love and Truth,

John Henry Raskin

Roadhouse Rabbi

When my adult daughter Chelsea, was a little girl, from age 3 to around 8, she had a series of pet hamsters.  As most people who have had rodents for pets know, they don’t live very long lives.  There was one hamster whom we named “Spiffy”, who had a really strong and engaging personality.  Spiffy was intensely curious and had no fear.  Once I saw Spiffy back a 12-pound cat up in fear and confusion when he bared his teeth at her as if to say, “stay out of my face or you are going to be sorry”.

Spiffy and Chelsea and I would spend a lot of time together around Chelsea’s bedtime, where we would read and act out story books, do comedy routines (often with Chelsea as the ventriloquist and Spiffy as her “dummy”) and sing songs (while Spiffy danced).  Spiffy’s personal favorite pastime was one we liked to call “taking a walk of a thousand miles on a single hand”.  For this I would hold Spiffy in the palm of my left hand and he would start walking towards my fingers.  When he reached the end of my fingers, Spiffy would always keep walking, and my right hand would come up, just as an injurious fall would have been evident had I not, and Spiffy would just keep on truckin’.  He would then walk to the end of my right hand and again, just keep walking, apparently confident that the “road” he was traveling was steady and sure.  My left hand would then come up on cue and Spiffy would have an uninterrupted journey as I kept repeating the motion with my hands, sometimes for 15 minutes and many “hamster miles”.

Spiffy passed away at a little over two years old (about average for hamsters) and shortly thereafter, as it was, I gave my life to Jesus.  As I have said in previous blogs, I don’t know how He did it, but the Lord revealed Himself to me at the perfect time in my life to say “yes” to Him and mean it.  There were several “yesses” as it happens.  The first “yes” was to my friend Tony’s question “John, do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that He died on a cross for your sins because you cannot stand before a Holy and a Righteous God without a Savior?”  The second yes came almost instantly after that, as the Holy Spirit hit me and showed me the 43 years of my life previously… This time I said a resounding “yes” to this question… “Are you through with living life as your own master and may I now take My rightful place as Lord of your life?”  The third “yes” came a couple of years later, after He had given me a new heart and my mind was beginning to be renewed, in love with the poor and hurting around me.  That question was… “Will you take up YOUR cross and follow me?”  That one was harder, because now I had steeped myself in God’s Word for two and a half years and I mean DEEP, and so I knew exactly what that yes would require, and potentially cost me.  Again, the Lord knew His servant and as it turns out, I was prepared to answer that question also with a “yes” that truly meant, “yes”!

So you ask, what does all this have to do with a hamster named Spiffy? Well, it was something the Lord showed me right after I said yes for the third and final time. He said “John, some have the faith of a lion. Some have the faith of an eagle. I have given you the faith of a hamster. Whenever you come to the end of my Hand, so that you cannot see where the next resource of money, friendship, wisdom, strength, or support of any kind is coming from, you will know to just keep walking. Be like Spiffy. Have hamster faith.” I have been at the end of all these things several times since and God has never failed, in twenty-one years, to bring up His other hand exactly at the perfect time because I have never failed to just keep walking, praying and joyful sure, but mostly WALKING. The ministry which He has birthed in this servant has thrived. Many have been saved. Many have been encouraged. Soldiers for Christ have been raised up and started cadres of their own. It has been an amazing journey of a thousand miles on One Hand.  

Thank You Jesus.  Thank you Spiffy.

Isaiah 40:31 – But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew
their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and
not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 63:8 – My soul follows close behind You; Your right
hand upholds me.

Isaiah 41:10 – Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed,
for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold
you with My righteous right hand.

With love and gratitude for Jesus and His Whole Body,

John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi